TRAINER'S EYE #119 - "Alolan Raichu Glides The Needle" ft. I Do The Felting - As The Pokeball Turns

Episode Transcript
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idothefelting (00:00):
This is, I do the felting and this is my Pokemon
story.

David Hernandez (00:42):
Welcome to As the Pokeball Turns, where we
interview people about theirexperience with Pokemon.
My name is David Hernandez, andtoday, I am joined by
IDoTheFeltine.
Welcome to the show!

Thank you! I'm excited to be here.

You know, the feeling is mutual and you're a
person of many talents becauseyes, we're going to talk about
the felting, but not only didfelting, but you also somebody
who did bath products.
You're also a lead singer of thealt folk band called golden
dinosaurs.
And you also did a podcast whereyou talked about how adulting is
a myth.
I agree with that sentiment.
Clearly you're very creative, sodo you always feel like you have

(01:19):
some kind of creative bone orjust something like you felt
like you were in this kind ofsphere to begin with?

Yes, probably, I've always kind of a silly
person.
and certainly always verycreative.
Like, I was a theater kid.
I kind of loved doing anythingand everything absurd when I was
younger.
And that's carried intoadulthood.
Like, I haven't changed.

(01:44):
So, creative, yes, for sure.
Laughter.

that's not a bad thing, you know, sometimes
we need just some people whowould be willing to be silly
because you can't be too seriousall the time, right?

Yep, I entirely agree.

Now I gotta ask, since you were a theater
kid, like were you like somebodywho just did improv or in plays
or a bit of both?

I was super into musical theater.
so trained singer.
Like you noted, I, did have aband.
really wanted to do musicals.
never was in a position wherecould do a lot of musicals
because the, theater, classes inmy high school just did straight
plays.
So I was in a lot of plays, butalso just really loved musical
theater.
Ha ha.

Ooh.
What was it about musicaltheater that you really enjoyed?

I love every aspect like, music.
I loved opera.
I wanted an opera singer as achild.
And, just, music itself and theway that music can tell a story.
And so I really always lovedtaking, like, a character arc.
To a song and just having thislike emotional like channeling
emotions through it From startto finish just having complete

(02:48):
story through it.
So yeah, I guess that's that'sthe thing

Well, it makes sense because I still feel like
whenever I've watched some ofyour clips on Instagram, we'll
talk more about felting later.
You also add music for most ofit, and some of the music that
you pick.
It was a scene where it was veryserious for Pokemon.
It was a Pokemon music song, butbecause of your personality, you
made it very fun and added tothe music and you kind of
manipulated the music to changeits meaning because you had a

(03:17):
different way to interpret it,if that makes sense.

Thank you.
I appreciate that.

I could remember the song.
It's going to drive me mad, butit's like one of them more, like
it was like one of them intensescenes of a Pokemon, um,
Something that happened withinPokemon, but you really made it
more fun to actually listen toit.

Thank you.
you know, when you create a lotof content, you end up using a
lot of different songs and likein the moment it makes sense,
but I don't know.
Later on thinking about it, Idid a thing and that's.
That's all I know is that I dida thing at some point.

Well, let me ask you this, because we're
gonna dive into your history ofPokemon, but since we're on the
topic of music, what songs fromPokemon really stick out to you?

So I remember, being a kid and having like the,
the CD of the soundtrack fromthe TV, I can't remember what it
was called, but it was likebasically the, the hit songs
from the hit TV show.
it

I call Pokemon music, volume one.

yes, yep, probably,

I don't know, I was just joking, yeah.
Ha ha

like accurately, I guess, but it was like, The
voice actors from English dub.
And they written songs for theEnglish dub.
And some of them got inserted.
So you know, We're on the roadto Viridian

Leaving the city, I'm on the route.

on there.
Yeah, exactly.
But also, there was thisridiculous one Misty was singing
about her hidden feelings aboutAsh.

Oh my gosh.
Yes, I remember this.

And I think though, my favorite was the Team
Rocket song.
because I was always very proudof my ability to do a Jesse
impression.

Ooh, okay.

and I loved, I just loved Jesse.
so, yeah, do you want, you wantto hear my Jesse impression?

please do, I was about to you if you'd be
willing to demonstrate it realquick.

Alright,

Now real quick you do it.
So is it the song to where teamrocket is to the okay?
making sure sure.

Rockets Rocket.
Rockets.
Yes, exactly.
That song.
So I always loved that song.
but yeah.
So I would constantly do aJessie impression.
To protect the world fromdevastation.

to unite our peoples within our nation

To denounce the evils of truth and love.

to protect our vision some oh my gosh, i'm just
all nations.
Oh my gosh, I can't rememberright I can't work under
pressure, man

That's fair.
I was worried that I wouldcrumble under the pressure, too.
So, it's better you than me, Iguess.

Yeah.

But yeah, I really loved, I really loved
Jessie.
Um, but also, did you know thatthere a Pokemon musical?

Yes.
That's actually how I knew aboutthe Misty song because I where
debuted or something like

Yeah! They took the songs from this flipping
soundtrack and then they made amusical out of it and the
puppets, they had amazingpuppets.
Some of them were carved outwood or I might be making that
up, but like I worked intheater, like I worked for our
local opera company.
I've done a lot of different,like in the arts stuff.
And so finding out about thatjust fascinated me because like

(06:28):
the stage puppetry is amazing.
I watched a bootleg version ofit from somebody like in the
audience

Yeah, they were Yes.
Yep.

but, yeah.
I love that that is somehow athing that happened.

What made you want to try to learn her
impression?
Because you said you're really,you know, fascinated with her as
a character, I guess.

It's, yeah, it, it's mostly that.
again, back to the creativething, I just was always doing
voices as a child and I figuredout that I could probably do
that voice.
it's funny because the samevoice actor also played Misty
and I don't have a Misty voicethat I could share with you.

(07:13):
But it's because of Jesse's,Voice and the way that it has to
bounce in your like vocalregister and like the resonance
sort of in your face It's verymusical and that's what drew me
to it was just like the musicaltones of how She would
manipulate her voice and howshe'd have to bounce it off like
the of her Basically in yournavel cavity is where that has

(07:34):
to be projected into and so Ijust I was like I could do that

And then the best part is because, you know,
Team Rocket, they would alwayshave like either music and they
would also change it up all thetime, especially like, whenever
they would make their entranceinto the scene, you got to hear
kind of different levels of howJesse would portray the sound, I
think.

Yes, yep, and there was always a sing song,
musical quality to the voiceacting And as someone who,
again, music and theater, and Ithink just my normal speaking
voice has a bit of that musicalquality to it as well that I
just, yeah, it resonated with mequite a lot.

So, it sounds like you would watch the anime
growing up.
So is that kind of your firstexperience with Pokemon?

so.
Yes, probably.
I was aware of the games.
My younger brother had a GameBoy.
he, uh, he bought Pokemon Red.
He was so much, so much morefiscally responsible with his
money I was.
So he, at his young age, couldafford a Game Boy, and I had
already spent any money I had onsmaller things.

(08:44):
So,

This guy disciplined right from the get

he really was, the contrast was so real between
us.
so he had a Game Boy, so I knewit existed, and then Sailor was
like my introduction to anime.
And so it was existing for likeyear or so before Pokemon came
onto the scene.
And I remember knowing thatPokemon anime was going to come

(09:08):
out, and I was super excited.
but for some reason, I had tomiss the day that it debuted.
I think it was like a Saturdaymorning.
I live in Canada.
was on YTV.
so I was mad that I had to missit.
So the week later, I was like,I'm not missing this.
I have to see it.
So I remember the first episodethat I watched was, Ash catching

(09:29):
Caterpie.
However, it was also at the sametime that a hospital in my city,
the hospital that I was born in,was being demolished.
They were airing this demolitionon the TV I was switching back
and forth watching this Caterpieepisode And the hospital fall to

(09:51):
the ground.
So, somehow this is a corememory.

Wow.
This is before you could havetwo screens.
If you had two screens, it was aluxury.

Right?
That have so much easier.

Reclifer, Reclifer,

But yes, so then I watched, you know, the first
few seasons of the anime, wouldwatch it whenever I had the
opportunity.
and then, my, my, my dirtylittle secret is that the, the
mainline games, I don't actuallyenjoy the gameplay of them.
Which is, like, blasphemy, Iknow.
but every other type game I haveloved.

(10:28):
So, I remember playing Stadiumon the N64, and Clefairies, and
the minigames being like,Clefairy! Clefairy! And so,
that's burned into my brain.
and then as far as, like, thegames go, Pokemon Snap, I was in
love with as a child, and evenlike later on, Pokemon Dungeon,

(10:48):
I loved.
It's just, I don't, I neverreally connected with the actual
gameplay of the main series.
Like, I did, I did really,really try with Let's Go Eevee,
and then I just handed thecontrollers to my husband and
was like, I think you gottadrive this,

wow, so you, more recent games you still
can't do.

Yeah, it's weird.
cause I love everything aboutthe franchise.
Like I love, I love thecharacters.
I design.
Obviously I love Team Rocket.
there's so much that speaks tome, but the actual lived out
gameplay of the main series isjust something I can't do.
And it's ridiculous.

Wow, so you just never really figured out
the reason why.
It just seems like, justsomething about the game that
the way it's presented justdoesn't appeal to you compared
even the, other games outside ofthe main series, like you said,
Pokemon Snap, I'm assuming NewPokemon Snap, all those you love

Yeah.
I love those.
I just, it is something about,And no, it's not an RPG.
I think it's the battling,honestly.
I just don't care.
It's so I'm in it for cute shit.

Right.

And like, I play tons Pokemon Like, I am so
committed to Pokemon Go.
and I'll raids.
I enjoy raids.
but, like, I don't, I don'tknow.
There's something about mainlinegames for me.
it's tragic.
I wanna like them.

I mean, that's the thing though, is like
everybody plays Pokemon fordifferent reasons and Pokemon's
primarily collecting.
Battling's always been kind ofthe second, you know, part of
the game, a lot of people reallyare very tied to it, but I think
that's the best part aboutPokemon as they've kind of
progressed and they've gottenolder, they've learned to kind
of branch out outside of just,oh beat the eight gems and then

(12:38):
beat the Elite Four.
They've really branched out tolike having different stories
and having other ways for peopleto kind of enjoy the franchise.
Like you said, Pokemon Go.
I remember the early daysPokemon Snap.
I loved Pokemon Puzzle League.
I don't know if you

Oh my God.
Yes, actually.
I,

good game.
Yeah.

100%.

And I'm still waiting for, I would love to see
a remake of that one, more sothan Pokemon Snap, but, you
know, that would be such a fungame.
So, but, I mean, that's a goodthing, like, it's good that we
all experience the franchise indifferent ways, and not
everybody wants to battle, youknow.
Not everybody wants to battlethe same, you know, it's
basically the same plot, battleeight gym leaders, beat the bad
guys, and go become champion.
Like, it's just the same formulafor the past 25 years, you know,

(13:15):
and that doesn't appeal toeverybody.

It's true.
that's another thing that Ireally love about the franchise
is that there are so many waysto connect with this incredibly
rich and expansive world.
Right?
So it's, yeah.

Yeah.

I feel bad, but I also don't feel bad.

No, no, no.
I mean, example, Pokemon stamp,what I loved about it is you
could literally just watch howPokemon interacted with the
environment.

Yes.

for example, I remember just when I was growing
up, I would spend like 30minutes on the volcano path
where before you hit the egg forMoltres, I would purposely just
camp there and feed Charmanderapples.

That, that's smart idea.
I love that! But that's theappeal of it, right?
It's, you get to see them intheir environment, just doing
things.
that's, Something that, withPokemon Go, I think about all
the time.
So, things like leaving Pokemonin gyms, I get in my head about

(14:17):
I'm just like, Oh my god, whatif you made friends while I left
you there?
And now, you've come home,you're never gonna see this
friend again,

Right.
I love this.
This is great.
Okay.
But then also, what if I don'tsee you for a long time?
Who's Who's gonna take care ofyou?
Like, what happens if it rains?

Totally! Like, I felt extremely guilty when some
of my Pokemon have trapped ingyms for a while.
And then, there was one time, Ileft a, um, I think it was an
Azumarill oh, by the way, I'mprobably gonna pronounce Pokemon
names wrong, because I thinkHooked on Phonics, betrayed me.

okay.
I messed up the Pokemon motto,,so you're good.

okay, that's fair.
But, like, seriously, for years,I thought that Turtwig was Tur
Turt Turt.
And then I heard it on theanime, and I was like, Twig
makes sense.
Why have I been saying it theother way for so long?
And then I was saying Pachirisufor years.
It turns out it's Pachirisu.

(15:23):
Come on.
So I'm going to say Pokemonnames weird.
Please tell me what they arebecause I like knowing it.

I was growing up, I would say Suicune and
Saisun.

I see why.

I mean, I see why you would do it too.
Yeah.
I mean, we don't getpronunciations on how to say
this.
The Pokedex doesn't have like,you turd wig or anything like
this.
Like we still have debates onhow to say requaza, requaza.
Like we don't know.

right.

Right.
So you're not, yeah, you're notalone.

Thank you.
but I just wanted to say it outloud in case, and when I do that
it's, it's already like, Hey,I'm gonna do this So anyway, I
left an Azumarill.
No, it was a Venonat with anAzumarill in the gym and they
have the same swaying animationis what I So they kind of, yeah,

(16:17):
they do that sway thing and itlooked they were dancing
together and I was like, oh no,oh no, you're going to come home
and you're just going to bethinking about your buddy that
you'll never see ever, everagain.

Oh,

So, I think a lot about that kind of stuff when
comes to Pokemon Go.
And, with, you know, the buddysystem.
get to three star point and yourbuddy starts giving gifts.
And so you get like a piece ofchalk or a lone earring.
I love that because it tells mewhat that Pokemon likes.
And you see, like, glimpses oftheir personality.

(16:55):
so, like, I have a really fancySlurpuff that would always just
bring me earrings.
Or, my Alolan Raichu loveschalk.
Like, just for some reason, it'sfascinated by chalk and just
keeps bringing me chalk.
So, it's just, I love seeingwhat they're going to bring more
of it says to me something abouttheir imaginary personalities.

and I think that's kind of what we want as,
you know, people who arepassionate about the franchise
as Pokemon trainers, because,you know, you think about the
anime and you saw the differentpersonalities, even with just
the same Pokemon.
I mean, for example, let's justdo ashes team just for
simplicity sake.
You know, you got Pikachu whowas a little bit of a brat at
first.
He didn't trust Ash foreverything, but then learned to
kind of trust him.
You've got the whole arc withCharmander and especially when

(17:39):
he evolved and, you know, Ashbetrayed his trust.
You kind of see thepersonalities, like they all get
different motivations.
They all have like differentfeelings.
And we kind of want that withthe Pokemon that we raise and we
implement like our experiences.
Cause I remember, you know,playing the games for myself, I
would implement like, what if,for example, like I don't go and
heal it.
Like I would always go back tothe Pokemon center.
Cause I'm like, I don't wantthem to be hurting while I'm

(18:00):
traveling in this journey.
Granted, the game, but I'dstill, you know, implement the
feelings of like, what if I'm inthe position in a way.

Absolutely.
Like, I, honestly, after a raid,I am always healing my Pokémon
because I will feel awful ifthey're sitting there hurt.

It's like they're without health and
they're just like just lyingthere.

Right?
It's tragic.
Like, I can't handle that.

you know, since we're on the topic, since you
are more experienced with likethe games outside the main
series games, what are some ofyour favorite ones?

like I said, Dungeon.
I loved, loved Dungeon, andespecially the, recent remake
that came out on the Switch.
I sunk so many hours into that.
And again, because it's about,it's about friendship.
And that's kind of my favoritething ever, is like, stories
about friendship.
This harkens back to my SailorMoon days.
I love the friendship aspectabout stuff.

(18:54):
And so, having Pokémon Dungeon,you have your friend buddy that
is part of your team bothwearing your little scarfs.
And just, there's just thisbeautiful story that's woven
around it while you also go, I'msurprised that the actual
mechanics of the gameplay andgoing dungeons Was something
that I could tolerate becauseobviously I have very specific

(19:16):
needs when it comes to gaming itfalls Outside of what I normally
play but I felt like the storywas just so compelling that I
was like Oh my god, you son of abitch.
I'm in

The story kind of just sunk their teeth and was
like, Oh, you're going to playthis no matter what you'll see.

yep.

What was it about the friendship that you
learned from that game that youstill remember?
For maybe who may not befamiliar with the game.

my goodness, it's that is a hard question for me
to answer because sometimes Idon't remember specific things
about the playthrough.
but I seem to remember the Absolshows up there was some sort of
plot point where you had toleave the village.
And, I can't remember the reasonwhy, but your buddy is like, I
will come with you.
And so both go on this journeyto find particular Pokemon.

(20:02):
I think it was Articuno.
I can't remember but there'sjust this like fostering this
friendship.
And then the cut scenes are sobloody cute.
I also really loved like the,the illustrations.
aspect of that just how adorableit was to see, the cutscenes and
just the drawings of Pokemon onthis little team with their

(20:24):
stupid little scarves aroundtheir necks.
I just, I loved that so much.

because, you know, you come from a different
place, you know, you don't playthe main series games.
How has that affected maybe yourchoice of Pokemon that you
prefer and like, so maybe evenyour favorite?

So I am very drawn to, adorable ones.
And I also love the idea ofmisfits.
so, my husband and I actually,we, decided We were going to
come up with, like, our mainteams, so we had to pick six,
and his Pokemon, we went Kantofor this, his Pokemon were all,
like, useful, so, like, teamdoes stuff, and so he'd have,

(21:04):
like, a Scyther on his team,because the Scyther can cut
things, or he had, Growlithe,because he could heat stuff up.

hmm.

It's just really practical.
And I was like, I want thegoofs.
Minus team goofs.
So, I went with like, I feellike Raichu just doesn't get
enough love.
And I really love Alolan Raichu.
I think that's my favoritePokemon.
But, sticking strictly to Kanto,Raichu.
Gloom, Weepinbell, Slowpoke,Clefairy.

(21:34):
can't remember what my sixth onewas.
But just like, this like, ragtaggang of like, a little bit slow,
a little bit goofy, a little bitdummy.

Mm hmm.

It's just kind of, kind of the vibe.

What about Raichu?
Because you said like, themisfits, you know, what is it
about

just, I feel like Raichu doesn't get enough love,
because you have, the darling ofthe franchise, the middle
evolution of this evolutionline, and this Raichu gets
overlooked all the time, or atleast does in my head,

No, makes sense.
I mean, Pikachu gets so muchattention that people forget
Raichu's kind of there.
Just like, uh, yeah.

Yeah, so I, just, have a lot of love for Raichu,
overlooked stepchild.

What about Alolan Raichu?
What do you think about thatone?

So, I love Alolan Raichu.
It's probably my favorite, andthe reason being, it somehow
reminds cat.
Especially the shiny version.
like, I have this, brown tabby,and she has these paws.
These very white, giant whitetipped paws, and I just,
whenever I see shiny Alolan justthink my cat, and the big, big

(22:41):
paws, the white tipped, shinypaws.

You've talked a lot about Pokemon Go when did
you first start playing thatgame?

So, uh, I unfortunately wasn't able to
start playing in 2016.
My husband's phone was capableof running it, but mine was not.
So he had Pokemon Go, and I waslike, I'm so jealous.
But so, right?
So I instead had Snapchat, and Iactually started this account

(23:57):
called SadPokemonGo.
And I think on Instagram it'sSaddestPokemon because couldn't
have enough characters to makeSad Pokémon Go as the username
at the time.
They like, character But it wasbasically me taking pictures
and, like, mimicking the ARfunction.
So I take pictures out in thereal world and then draw really

(24:18):
sad, scribbled versions ofPokémon in Snapchat.

Awww.

Put them on the internet!

Because you couldn't play the game.

Yeah, so that's what I did instead.
You know what?
It was a lot of fun.

That was probably therapeutic, I'd
imagine.
mean, that's gotta be torture.

It was ridiculous, and then my husband
kind of stopped playing andeventually I got a phone that
was capable of running it andthen was worried about having my
GPS on all the time because itgot paranoid so I didn't start
playing.
Actually, until 2019 when afriend of mine in a different
city was heavily playing and Iwanted to over a thing and so I

(25:01):
started playing Pokemon Go and Ihaven't looked back since.

what do you like about playing Pokemon Go?

Um, I am for sure a shiny hunter.
the novelty of just finding therare version of Pokemon.
So I'm constantly like checking.
Shiny checks all the time, it'sa little obsessive, and then I
feel like they've done a reallygood job of bigger events since
the pandemic, like GoFest,Global GoFest, the first time,

(25:29):
so I, I love those things, whenthey happen.
I have never been to an inperson GoFest yet, but, one day
hopefully.

I don't know if your husband returned the game
But do you go out and play likewith friends or do you go with
your husband?
When it to shiny hunting

he did, return to the game.
it was about a month after Istarted playing.
for my birthday I was like, I amso afraid of raiding.
It's so intimidating, help me.
And he was like, raids are notthat hard.
we can go do them.
So on my birthday, he took theday off and we just like, drove
around the city looking forraids to do that were like, they
weren't five star, but they werejust approachable for what level

(26:07):
I at the time.
so he has picked it up and sothe two of us will go out and do
shiny thing together.
He's much less invested than me.

you're the more hardcore between the two of you
it sounds

Yes.
I am for sure much morehardcore.
But like, he has fun.
We'll both pay for the ticketedevents because we get lot out of
it.
We'll, like, take the whole day.
We'll go the eight hours orwhatever.
And make an event out of it.

Yeah, let's make a full outing of it
basically.

Yeah, and then there are local meetups.
We're not super connected tothose, but we will attend to
them sometimes, especially withGigantamax.
Because you cannot do thatwithout tons of people.

What was it about the raids initially that
you were kind of hesitant to do?
Like, what you afraid of?

I was just so new.
To the game, and I was oftenlike shiny checking on the bus
into work, accidentally likeclick on a gym, and it would
give me a raid pass, and I'd belike, what is this?
What do I do with it?
Oh no, have I done somethingwrong?

What sin have I done by clicking this gem?

So it's just the mechanics of it.
I was like, I don't understand.
I guess I could read somethingon the Internet, but for some
reason I didn't.
It's like, what are these?
I probably want do them help.

My gosh.

So, yeah.
But now, I raid all the time,so.
have a good, good raiding teamof, as many types as possible so
that I just punch out raids.

You know, it's interesting that, you know, you
got drawn into Pokemon Go, evenmore so than the main series.
Is it because there's also lessbattling and it's just catching?
Is that kind of why you preferit,

I, probably, and I think Because it's so
integrated with, like, the ideaof the real world, and it's on
my phone, and God knows I'mchronically online, so I can
just, right?
So I can just, like, switch to adifferent app, and check what's
spawning right now.
I, like, I think it's theconvenience factor as well.

(28:15):
And then he'll be driving, and Iwill then just be on my phone,
and shiny checking, and gettingkilometers in.
When we're going slow enough soI can play while we're on the
way to groceries.

Hey, but you're a passenger and that's what's
most important.

Exactly!

And then you can play while getting groceries
as well because I do that well.
Yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

that's what I always enjoyed about Pokemon Go
is it allowed me to kind of mixthe two worlds because you know
beforehand you actually had tokind of dedicate time to
actually Play Pokemon and nowwith Pokemon Go came out I was
able to kind of just play evenpassively like go and get
groceries When I used to ridethe bus I do the same thing I
would catch Pokemon try to spinstops and stuff like that I get
that's the best the best partabout Pokemon Go I love is that

(28:59):
I can play it on the go WhileI'm doing my daily task and
still feel like I'm having myown journey in a way

Yep, exactly.
the accessibility there is great

Now, I want to go ahead and dive into, felting
because it, like I said, it'ssomething that was unique for me
because I'd never heard of itbefore, even, you know, having
me on the show, what is feltingfor maybe those who don't know?
Let's start there.

So felting, I do a very specific type of felting
because there's two differenttypes.
the, thing that I do is needlefelting.
that's basically you take abunch wool you poke it with this
very specialized needle.
it has tiny little barbs in it,and with every poke it, tangles
wool so that eventually the woolbecomes so tangled that it

(29:43):
starts to hold shape and becomesBasically a soft sculpture, but
you have to poke a ridiculousfor it actually take form like
that.
So it's, it's a very, it's avery intense time consuming wise
process.
but my goodness, if you poke forlong enough, The results can be
wild, like you can create somecool stuff.

(30:07):
The other type of felting is wetfelting.
So that's tangle the fibers withwater and soap by like agitating
and rubbing with the water andsoap.
I don't like having to touch.
soap and water all the time.
So, the needle felting works forme.
And it's less about sculpturewith wet felting.

(30:28):
It's more about like, createbowls and hats and things.
Whereas, interested sculptures.

And, you know, you're very good at it for those
who, if you check out herInstagram, definitely should,
because she does some amazingartwork.
A lot of it is Pokemon, but alsoother stuff.
But I want to ask, like, how didyou discover it?
And what made you want to kindof dive into do needle felting?

So, it was um, I, I knew that it existed, for
quite some time, but it I wasworking as a hypnotherapist, and
it was, the clinic I was workingat had just opened up in
February of 2020.
And, clients,

A bit.

I had wanted to do something that I could, like,
just to have something smallthat I could be with.
Doing in between clients while Iwas clinic, so I had found
online a needle felting kit Istarted with a Totoro the Studio
Ghibli character from MyNeighbor Totoro I picked it up
knowing that eventually I wasgonna be making Pokemon So I

(31:34):
started with this kit Got it Tobring to the clinic, but then
the pandemic happened a monthafter the clinic opened.
And so the clinic shut down andin person sessions weren't
happening.
And I then, ended up notcracking open kit until July
that But once I started it, Iwas like, Oh, I immediately took

(31:56):
to and knew that I wanted tocontinue.
So my second piece was actuallya gloom.
it's not.
The most attractive Gloom inexistence.
And I mean, I guess Gloom iskind of not the most attractive
Pokémon.
But, that's right.
But, at that point I was like,Alright, I think that I can,

(32:18):
make Pokémon.
and picked up a couple morekits.
Because I did.
wanted to get some basics down,but then I opened up commissions
to, my what's in my bathaudience.
And as an aside, that is anotherthing that I do on the internet.
mentioned at the beginning.
It's basically me.
I've made career feral on theinternet.

(32:39):
it's essentially me reacting tobath bombs on Tik TOK, I've got
300, 000.
Followers, like, it's, it's, itblew up to very large extent.
so I opened it up to myfollowers there was like, Do you
want me to Pokemon for I'll doit at really low price while I'm
learning.
And first commission wasBulbasaur, which was fantastic.

(33:00):
so, yeah, and from there, I justkind of continued to gain steam.
And, a lot of my Ghibli workstend get a lot of eyes on I had
a Calcifer video go super viralon all platforms.
And that allowed to start thisfull time.

Wow, that's crazy.

Right?!

So you went into doing Needlefell team with
the intention of eventuallymaking Pokemon?

Yeah! that was awesome.
I just, I loved the design.
I was like, I could make Pokemonand that would be a joyful me.
And I just that I'd love it.
And yeah, I started with theTotoro kit because it was, I
mean, I do get me wrong.
but I went that way because itwas more prominent.
and that's the other thing isthat what I love about making

(33:49):
Pokemon is a lot of the timesI'll get commissioned to make
Pokemon like, is not the mostpopular, for some reason that's
somebody's favorite.
so there's all these Pokemonthat we don't normally see a lot
of merch that I can sculpt outof wool.
And that's so super cool to me.
And so, yeah, that's why Iwanted to do Pokemon.

I feel the same way because I started doing
bracelets for my community dayshere in Pokemon Go.
and we do the highlight ofPokemon.
So whatever it is, you know, Ido a bracelet for it.
But then as I've done more ofthem, I'm like, I get to do
Pokemon that there is nothingout there.
For example, so I'm doing onewhere I did one where it's for
Crystal Onyx back from theanime.

oh my goodness.

Exactly.
Like how much stuff do you seefrom Crystal Onyx for

Never, Nothing.

it though.
And I'm like, I can do morestuff to where, you know, yes,
of course I get the popularstuff, like Bulbasaur,
Charmander, any popular Pokemonyou think of I'll have, I get to
also highlight some of the onesthat are lesser known, like the
Crystonix is a good example.
I got to do the ghost fromLavender Town.
I don't know if you know thatthat's from the gen one games,

Yeah.

but stuff like that, and I get to do the Shadow
Lugia from XD.
I get to do, It's so much fun.
Like I have this opportunity tokind of highlight Pokemon that
maybe people don't realize arevery niche.
And I understand that, you know,I'm a slump, but you know,
that's what it's all about.
I like to be able to highlightthings that maybe don't get that
exposure or the ones that theydeserve.

Absolutely.
Oh, that's so fun.
Okay.
You need to make sure that,like, you send me picture these
bracelets.
I want to see them.

Oh yeah, definitely for sure.
And then the best part aboutwatching your content is that.
You remind me of Miss Frizzlefrom the Magic School Bus with
how passionate how deep you getinto doing because you also not
only because you laugh and youknow, you're enjoying yourself,
like I said, it's very evidentyou do enjoy making this
content, but you also includethe why of why you do things

(35:48):
like why you're puncturing aneedle this way or what you're
trying to hope to achieve bydoing something, and it's almost
like both a how to as well asentertainment.
It's a very good blend.

thank you, I, I, I think it's so funny that you
mentioned Mrs.
Frizzle because the way that Idress, I, I wear really like
bright dresses that havePatterns on them, they're
usually floral because that'swhat find, but like, if I could
find regular, like, spacedresses like that, I would, and

(36:39):
I just feel, I've describedmyself, my sense of style is Ms.
Frizzlecore, so the fact thatyou say that is, that delights
me, thank you.

you check out your reels and just, you really,
it feels like I was like, youwould be Ms.
Frizzle.
That's the first thing came tomind.
I, I can't help it.
I couldn't think Pokemonreference.
had to go back to the magicschool bus days.
And

I love that so much.
Um, thank you.
Um, yeah, but like that's,that's, it's important to me to,
um, I, I know that like half ofmy audience is just there for,
you know, the entertainmentpiece, but then half of my
audience is also, Needle feltersthemselves, right?
And so I get a lot of questionsabout, you know, how do you get

(37:26):
it to look this way?
Like, what did you do to make itlook so polished at the end or
whatever?
So, I do like to include, likelittle pieces of insight that I
have cobbled together along theway on my felting journey, and
be able to share that with otherfolks.

then also the one thing I really love that you
mentioned, and you'll probablyremember this.
You mentioned how important itwas to have facial expressions.
Yeah.
And I see that a lot whenever Igo to art galleries, and I think
that's what separates those whoare like, still learning and
those who've kind of gone thenext level for lack of a better

(38:02):
words.
Because when I go to watch art,sometimes I'll see stuff and
it's just like a copy ofsomething which is okay.
But when you really want to diveinto like the personality into
what the artist, if you reallywant to implement who you are
into any kind of art piece,whether it be for me podcasting,
you know, I had to implement myown personality into this show
for you, you implement your own,you know, take on it with your

(38:24):
felting.
You got to learn how to kind ofdevelop that personality of what
that Pokemon is.
I think that's what separatesthose who are very good and
those who are still learning, inmy opinion.

Yeah, I agree with you.
The thing about, The expressionsis very early on when I started
to transition into like the fulltime work, I really set out like
intention that every piece thatI made would have a spark of
personality Like it's, it's justsuch a sacred thing me to create

(38:55):
something that feels alive, likefeels like it's imbued with sort
of a magic and, a purepersonality.
So that is such an importantgoal of mine, not goal, like a
tenant, in what I do withfelting.
I want to ensure there's justthe spark of life in each piece.

And I think the best way this captured it, and
we can go examples for days,unfortunately, this is a
podcast.
I mean, I could have a hoursupon an hour to podcast if the
audience wanted to, but the onewas actually one where you did
something for the Pokemon artguild and you were commissioned
to you.
I think it was a lowlandsecretary you were assigned to,

Yes.

and way you brought out the personality, Is
you had an image of likesomebody going up to like, give
it an ice cream cone, basically.
That was kind of your initialthought process, I think.
But then you added your own taketo it and said, well, what about
if we actually did a realPokemon, which is of course, I
think you did Vanilluxe.

yes, yes.

And you had such good, It's expressions to
where you have Exeggutor tryingto lick the Vanilluxe while the
Vanilluxe is like wondering whatthe hell are you doing to me?
It is so perfect and that's whatI'm talking Those personalities
is what, if you're an artist ofany type, that's what you want
to try to catch.

Thank you.

Did I, did I share, I couldn't remember if
that was, uh, did I actuallyshow how

yes.
So basically it there's a littlegroup of creators, that mostly
Pokemon art, it was gatheredtogether by Katsur, who is a
crochet artist.
focuses mostly on, life size,creating life size Pokemon.
So she brought together a littlegroup of, artists who all have
different modalities.
So Cupcake Dex is in there.

(40:34):
Katser, there's an artist thatdoes, pipe cleaner work.
He makes sculptures out of pipecleaners.
and then there's a, traditionalillustrator.
And so we've done two projectsso far.
we're averaging like once ayear.
Um, where we, we all submitsomething according to a theme.
So we'll submit this, this onethat you referred to was our

(40:55):
summer project.
So it was submit a Pokemon andsubmit a, summer activity.
And then we just randomly getassigned from that pool of
submissions.
And so the one I was given was,Alolan Exeggutor eating ice
cream on the boardwalk.
And so, I was like, oh mygoodness, this is going to be a

(41:16):
challenge.

interesting one.
Yeah.

Right?
So, I think that the activitiesthat I submitted was like
gardening.
But, whoever submitted eatingice cream on the boardwalk got
super specific

Yeah.

So, I, figured, why not?
At first I was envisioning,because I needed to get the ice
cream to Alolan Executor's mouthsomehow.
So, He was gonna have to besitting down and kinda hunched
over, so I had to use wire forhis neck.
so I knew that much, but atfirst I was like, do I have
different Pokémon just an icecream cone up to him?

(41:53):
I was considering like,Teddiursa holding an ice cream
above its head.
But then I was like, you knowwhat?
There's Pokemon that are icecream.
So I went with Vanilluxe and I,the reason I chose that is I was
already making three faces forthe Alolan Executor, but I love
detailed face That's my favoritething about felting.

(42:13):
And so I was like, why not addtwo more faces the mix?
So I went Vanilluxe, because Iknew that I could get crazy
expressions.
So, like, the one Vanilluxe thatis connecting with the
Executor's tongue, it's got its,like, eye closed right where the
tongue touches it.
And then the one beside it is,like, looking In a horror, and

(42:35):
they, it, just, I wanted toconvey this feeling of, like,
Vanilluxe trying to get the hellaway.
And then, with, like, theExecutor's faces, like, the, the
one in the middle, of course,is, like, trying to lick
Vanilluxe, but then, on the sideis, like, very interested in
kind of peeking over at whatit's doing and then the one

(42:58):
that's like closest to Vanilluxebut doesn't have its tongue out,
I wanted that to look like hewas jealous and upset that it
wasn't getting any the action.

like, it's my turn.
Let me lick some Vanilluxe.
gosh.
That's great.
How long did it take you to makethat one?
Out of curiosity.

oh my god.
So I, I very deliberately Do nottime how long takes me because
if I know, then I feel like I'llget up in my head about it.
It takes a long time.

Fair

Felting is not, for, faint of heart in that,
like it just takes, you've gotto be committed.
so I have a machine, it's afelting machine, that's like a
little power tool and that doescut down on the time.
I would probably Double thetime, at the very least, if
doing everything manually atthis point.
I full time.

(43:54):
Full time is scrolling theinternet

You

day.
So, yeah, that's I just, I don'twork as, consistent.
Like, I'm maybe not feltingeight hours a day, but felting
least half that.
so I think it took me about twoa half weeks to get squared

I was gonna say, it takes a while.
Yeah.

I had to, like, block off time in between
commissions to ensure that I'dbe able to like, focus on that.
And we have very loose deadlinesbecause everybody has going on.
all artists you know, sometimesyou're working on it, but you're
not quite ready to post thatyet.
So the deadlines shifted a bit.
So I had a bit more time to playwith it, but yeah, it definitely

(44:41):
took a long time.

I do want to ask this question.
So, you know, you said Raichu isyour favorite.
if you were going to do afelting project for, let's just
do Kanto Raichu.

Okay.

How would you do it?
What kind of personality do you,would you implement on a Raichu?

I feel like sometimes Raichu is forgotten
stepchild.

hmm.

So I feel like there'd be sort of some
goofiness.
I know that Raichu is oftendepicted as really like
competitive

serious.

Surge is Raichu.
but, I don't know, I thinkRaichu's goof.
The one I make, Raichu's gonnajust kind of be, kind of goofy,
might be holding on to his tail,

Mm hmm.

and maybe even a little bashful.
I do have an idea specificallyfor an Alolan Raichu that I have
sort of envisioned sort ofsitting down and clutching their
tail, really intently, so likeholding the tail out in front of
him, and kind of hiding behindit, is what I want to do with
it, eventually, in betweencommissions.

I see Raichu also as a jokester.
Cause you know, he's goingtrying to get any, he's going to
be trying to get attention.
So he's going to try to think ofsome like being like almost like
a class clown to where.
It tries to can get from Pikachuaway from it, you know?

Yes.
Yes.
Absolutely.

Well, I want to leave it on this last question
So one post that I did notmention is you got to do both a
compare contrast between whenyou first started in 2020, you
Bulbasaur to 2024, where youdid, we did it to now.

Yes.

What was it like to kind of go through that
process and see the differencebetween the four years of doing
just a Bulbasaur and theprogress you've made?

It's, it's crazy.
it is baffling.
Like, I felt back then, my workwas, know, my work was good.
I was getting, I was, I wascapturing the characters quite
But along the way, I can pointto specific pieces that felt
like step changes, like levelingup in my work throughout.

(46:46):
So like I, there's, there'sseveral little points throughout
where that was a moment for me.
And then all of a sudden, fourprojects later, this other
moment comes, including I did anincredible commission.
Like I said, folks willcommission me to make favorite
Pokemon.
And I was asked to do the threemain Pokemon from someone's

(47:07):
beloved team.
like, he shared with me howimportant These three were to
him.
And I was like, Oh my God, thisis amazing.
I love that I get to do this.
So I was making Torterra,Luxray, and Arcanine.
And with the Torterra, I wasreally intimidated because
that's a lot detail and that'sbig, right?
Like you gotta felt an entiretree on his back.

(47:30):
So I, I started with that onebecause I wanted that to sort of
like the size.
but then somehow when I moved onto the Luxray the Luxray was
like an inch or two taller thanthe Torterra.
So this commission, nobody isreally in scale with each other,

(47:51):
but it was just such a moment tocreate these very, I wanted them
to be so playful.
So like Torterra has his leg upin the air.
And he's, has joyful smile.
Luxray's got his head kindcocked, and he's got his paw up
in the air as well, but like insort of a, curled under him,
like, he's like, not prancing, Iwish I could describe this

(48:11):
better, but it's like, almostregal, but in playful And then
Arcanine is in like, a croucheddown, know how dogs go down with
their butts in the air, andthat's like play stance, that's
what I have Arcanine And it'sthese three that are like,
massive.
I was shocked at how big thatentire, those three pieces ended
up being, and Tortero wassomehow the smallest.

Of all the Pokemon.

Right?
Um, but it was like that moment.
was probably a game changermoment me.
So then, like, moving forwardtowards this revisiting
Bulbasaur, the way that thedetail came together on this
Bulbasaur, wasn't as big as,like, Arcanine and Luxray ended
up being.
But it's, I, I, Even through theprocess of making this

(48:59):
Bulbasaur, I could see that likewhen the bulb, I was making the
bulb, I was like, Oh, that'sjust not plump enough.
So I know where to add wool inways to just make the sculpture
fuller and more proportion.
And so it was just this like,able to look at them, like, my
original Bulbasaur, very, verycute.
And I think there's somethingspecial about that too.

(49:20):
But this is like, oh, this is somuch more very distinct way.
And detail, the details arethere in a way that they weren't
back in 2020.

And I think that's kind of anybody who does
art, some people think it's likea big moment that defines you.
And I love psych and there wasan episode from the father said,
life's not about big moments.
It's a series of moments puttogether.
And even when I think about mypodcast journey, and I've been
doing this for a couple, aboutthree years now.
there's some episodes to where Igo back and I'm like, That

(49:51):
changed something.
like I could do somethingdifferent and I've seen the
progression and just in your waywith felting, you know, those
projects, you think about them,on Instagram, I'm sure you
probably reflect on some of thestuff you've done in the past.
You see the ones to where, like,I remember that changed me and
how I could have improved overtime.
You know, it sticks in yourmind, if that makes sense.

Yes, absolutely.
Absolutely.
It's, it's really, I don't wantto say awe inspiring, because
it's not quite that, but it's,it is profound.
It's profound to be able to lookback and see where those moments
happened.

I do the felting.
Thank you for coming on the showbefore you go.
If people want to check out yourstuff, if they want to check out
your shop, where can they allmeans, please plug away.

Thank you.
So I am, I do the felting on, atleast most major platforms.
So that's Instagram, Facebook,TikTok, YouTube.
I'm also on the Tumblr.
and my website is idothefelting.
com.
And so that's where you can lookat.
A gallery, it's not completelyup to date, but there is a
gallery there.
Go to Instagram if you really tosee like most recent detailed

(50:58):
works, because that's that allis living and breathing.
but, idothefelting.
com and if have anything generalcatalog available, it will be
listed on the website there.
There is a spiel right now.
She has cute little, Beads,she's a springtime spiel, and
she hasn't found her foreverhome, if you're into spiel, that

(51:20):
might be a good thing for you.

you to be skills forever home, this is
your chance.

But yes, so I do the felting, that is how you
find me on the interwebs.

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TRAINER'S EYE #119 - "Alolan Raichu Glides The Needle" ft. I Do The Felting

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}TRAINER'S EYE #119 - "Alolan Raichu Glides The Needle" ft. I Do The Felting